Cover for aquarium

Covers for aquariums and terrariums serve three main purposes. 

The cover prevents dust from getting inside of the tank. 

Buy hinged glass top on Amazon (paid link): 

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The cover reduces water evaporation from the tank. 

And the cover prevents pets from escaping out of the tank. 

Generally, covers made by the same brand as the tank should match each other the best if you pick the right size. 

So, I look at the aquarium size before ordering the cover (lid or hood).

 I bought a hinged glass top cover matching the size of my tank from the same brand.

 Actually, the tank and the cover were gifted to me by my family.

 I suppose it was in effect from my months-long extensive talks about building a paludarium for newts :) 

Okay. Let's assemble the cover. 

The glass is already attached to the hinge.

 There is a manual explaining how to attach the handle to the glass. 

I wish there was any indication which side of the plastic extension goes up or down. 

And there is only one piece of plastic extension...let's put it on the back side of the aquarium. 

Notice - the plastic extension is a bit shorter than the length of the glass.

 Here, let me show it. 

About 5mm shorter on both sides of the glass. 

Let's stick the handle on the front. 

About a centimeter or so away from the edge of the glass should do. 

Now let's see how the cover fits on the tank. 

Aha, I attached the plastic extension upside down.

 Let me give you a closer look at it. 

In this way the extension protrudes above the glass level leaving a gape. 

I want to reduce the gap as much as possible. 

And there is a huge centimeter wide gap on the front! 

I can slide the cover back or front - the gape is still there... 

Well, let's reattach the extension. 

This way the extension should be more in the level with the glass. 

Yes, this time it's more in the level.

 But, the plastic profile at the corners of the extension needs to be trimmed off to make it fit better. 

It's just a couple millimeters bump that needs to be cut off for the cover to rest flat. 

I use a sharp blade to cut off the bumps. 

The plastic is pretty tough - it would be easier to cut with a hand saw.

 Here, take a look at the cut I made. 

I make the same cuts on the other side of the plastic extension part. 

And now the extension part lays perfectly flat on the brims of the tank. 

The cover pulled all the way back leaves a noticeable gape in the front. 

Water evaporates a lot from the tank through the gap in the top of the cover. 

I make covers for all my DIY aquariums to fit nicely. 

I am surprised and disappointed that the same brand cover does not fully cover the tank. 

The gap is large enough for Springtails, Isopods and Newts to escape from the tank. 

Nevertheless, I have an idea how to fix the gaps to make the cover suitable for my paludarium. 

I outfitted the paludarium with a variation of a hanging garden shown in previous videos.

 Basically, it is a land part suspended on wires hooked to the top brim of the tank. 

Now I have to cut slots in the plastic extension to put the wires through. 

Let's mark the spots where cuts need to be done. 

Use a hand saw to cut the slots. 

I use round nose pliers to remove the cut part of the slots. 

The plastic is really tough and holds great! 

Now let's put the cover back on the tank and make the corresponding wire fit in each slot. 

The silicon tubing covering wires fills the empty space of the slots.

So, neither Isopods or Newts would be able to escape through those gaps. 

The back and the sides of the cover fit nicely on the tank without any gapes.

 There is only a gap on the front needs to be fixed. 

And again, I wish the company would provide a second piece of plastic extension. 

Well, I am going to close the gap using a silicone edge protector strip intended for furniture. 

The strip can be bent in V shape and secured to the glass surface with sticky.

 First let's cut off a piece of desirable length. 

Now, remove the protective layer from only one sticky surface of the strip.

 Stick the strip to the bottom side of the glass making the strip overlap the brim of the tank. 

Do not remove the protective layer from the overlapping part of the strip.

 Install the edge protector in this fashion on the front of the cover leaving slots for the wired hooks.

The rigid plastic extension on the back certainly serves better for this purpose. 

Time will show how well the silicon protector will hold off the evaporation. 

Here is a side view for you to see better what I am doing. 

The silicon protector can be removed easily if necessary.

 So, I can replace it if it comes to it. 

Here you can see the condensation on the walls of the paludarium. 

The modified cover holds water evaporation perfectly well.

 3 months and counting, I have not refilled water since the initial set up!

 Have fun and happy aquariums :)